JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

[Curly]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

I don't have a quick answer ... strats just seem to develop a lot of sympathetic vibrations at times, especially around the trem

it sounds like you've gone through everything though

I'd double check that the radius of the saddles matches the neck's radius. also check the nut slots, and maybe add a little lube. In one of my strats, I put graphite at all the moving parts, and that helped.

if you just got this, be a little patient and you'll find the problem. I'd also play it a bit before deciding for sure to switch pickups.

 

[metalspider]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

well the springs from my experiance can buzz when playing a certain note.....
you can put a peice of spounge in the cavity that well dampen them or wrap them with cellotape or some masking tape but best solution is to get new springs.

but in your case since its not on a specific note but in a specific region (high frets..) try lowering the pickups and see what happens.(since you're sure its not fret buzz)

 

[Diego]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

This is gonna sound uber-idiotic but...

JV stands for who? :smack:

I keep thinking about Jacques Villeneuve, the Canadian Formula 1 driver...:laugh2:

 

[WhoFan]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

This is gonna sound uber-idiotic but...

JV stands for who? :smack:

I keep thinking about Jacques Villeneuve, the Canadian Formula 1 driver...:laugh2:

Jimmy Vaughn.... Stevie Ray's brother...

 

[Ocifer]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

Curly: I've got a new tube of Big Bends Nut sauce which I'll apply to the nut, string trees, and saddles for tuning stability anyway.

MetalSpider: If it is the trem springs, how would one diagnose that? Is it that they buzz themselves and it gets amplified, or..what?

 

[Diego]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

Cool, didn't know SRV had a famous brother... thanks man.

 

[metalspider]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

well when it happend to me i only heard them buzz on a certain note wherever i played it on the neck (for example a D#)
so if you suspect the springs open up the cavity and mute em with youre hand if the buzz dissapers then you've found the cause

and yeah there buzz gets picked up just like many other buzzes

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

Well first change the strings....
Don't get too hung up with all the quirks from a strat
Lower the neck pu some, what gauge are the strings by the way??

 

[Ocifer]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

The ones that came with the guitar were Fender Bullets, I suppose. Felt like standard 10s.

I tried changing the strings to make sure, and it didn't help. I set it up for EB Skinny Top Heavy Bottoms (10-52).

I think the first thing I'll do is lower the p'ups to see if it helps. Obviously, I'll lose some output, but I can live with it for a while until I decide what to do about the pickup situation.

 

[TheJangus]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

OK i had a MIM start do something really weird... When i played certan notes there was this weird overtone note that sounded so strange..... I thought it was the bridge and the pickups and then i wondered if it was the frets....

Turns out the extra noise was the strings above the nut ringing out... This was picked up by the guitars pickups! The G string inbetween the nut and the tuner would ring out when i played causing all sorts of weird sounds...

In a dead quiet room strum the strings for a while and pay atention to the strings above the nut to see if they are ringing out on their own when playing the guitar... It drove me crazy until i found the source of my trouble!

WhoFan

I had a MIM Strat that did the exact same thing. Changing strings from 9's to 10's didn't effect it. I chaulked it up to a poorly cut nut. My kludge was I wrapped a piece of black electrical tape around the g string above the nut to dampen it.

Whoa... That didn't sound quite right.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

I had a MIM Strat that did the exact same thing. Changing strings from 9's to 10's didn't effect it. I chaulked it up to a poorly cut nut. My kludge was I wrapped a piece of black electrical tape around the g string above the nut to dampen it.

Whoa... That didn't sound quite right.

It was weird as the only way i found it was the G string ringing out was at 3am i had the strat sitting in my lap in the middle of the night playing in a very quiet house unplugged.... I guess all other times there was too much background noise for me to hear the string buzzing above the nut......

 

[Ocifer]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

Got the guitar back today. Nice setup too, yet the sound problem remains. No buzz (even acoustically, and it's definetely not string buzz coming through the amp). I've also ruled out trem strings and saddle or nut burrs as the problem.

It's not so bad though, and virtually non-existant with clean settings. and I can surely live with it until I get a set of Kinmans. I tried it at the store through a Fender HR Deville, Vibroverb, and a Vox AC30CC (with Warfdale speakers, not Alnico blues). (That AC30 sounds great!)

Even these stock p'ups sound pretty good. Amazing neck. Bends are a breeze with this much wood to hang on to! The guitar just begs to be played, and sustain is great. I may set it up for floating trem use soon, and enjoy this thing to the max.

With some of the killer clean sounds on the Vox ToneLab I have, this thing is a complete joy to play!

My only complaint could be this noise issue which will get resolved soon enough with some tinkering.

 

[Jeroen]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

Question: how do the E-series compare to the JV? It seems I'm getting a vintage white E-series this week (the price is an absolute steal, so if it's not my cup of tea I should still be able to sell it again at a fair price).

 

[Ocifer]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

I'm not familiar. What is the E-Series?

A bit of an update: I took it to another tech for a second opinion. Definetely not the frets. He says a couple of the higher frets are slightly uneven, but nowhere near enough to warrant a level. Furthermore, the problem is there when playing slide, too, when the frets are out of the equation. He didn't see anything wrong with the saddles or the nut.

He suggested that it might be a problem that happened if I used a noise gate w/ distortion, which I do. However, I took the NG out of the loop altogether, and it still made this noise. Perhaps I'll record the noise today or tomorrow so you guys can get an idea of what I'm talking about. Also, I played a G&L Legacy today that did the same thing.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

Question: how do the E-series compare to the JV? It seems I'm getting a vintage white E-series this week (the price is an absolute steal, so if it's not my cup of tea I should still be able to sell it again at a fair price).

You are tlking about the made in Japan vintage series guitars from the 80's this thread is about a Jimmy Vaughan Strat...

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

Have you tried lowering the pup? What you are describing sounds like its in your rig somewhere. Or maybe there is an issue with the output jack? Hell it almost sounds like a battery dying in a pedal

 

[Ocifer]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

I've got a Vox ToneLab, going into a Marshall MGDFX30. I know it won't sound AWESOME through this, but it shouldn't sound like this. I've tried it solo through the TL, and it still makes the sound. I also tried it through the amp alone, and it makes the sound...

It could be the wiring, which I would like to go through. I have tried lowering the p'up, the noise is still there. Either way, lowering the p'up is definetely not a permanent solution, as having it so low kills the tone.

 

[Jeroen]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

You are tlking about the made in Japan vintage series guitars from the 80's this thread is about a Jimmy Vaughan Strat...

LOL, I thought it was about the SQUIER JV-series of the early '80's. Sorry for hijacking, I'll make my own thread

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

Well on my HW-1 I actually knocked the poles down abit, since they are not made like vintage singlecoils and have little contact with the wire
Otherwise it is not recommended to "adjust" the height of those.
But it removed any buzz trhat was left

 

[Ocifer]

Re: JV Strat is Mine! - Problem, some advice.

The problem has resolved itself, in a weird way! The guitar developed some string buzz, pretty bad that could be heard through the amp. So, I adjusted the neck (AGAIN) and raised the action ever so slightly. I also applied Big Bends Nut Sauce to the nut and bridge saddles. No buzz, the weird noise gone. I had to lower the neck p'up fairly low however, and it isn't sounding the greatest.

The tex-mex pickups are actually quite good, but I'd still like to replace them with Kinman noiseless ones. They'll stay on for another month at least, though. Very flexible as a result of the bride tone control and I quite like the wide open middle pickup.

The only thing I need to adjust to are the knobs. Slightly different than my old strat copy, and they are harder to turn. Are there pots I could buy with easier turning, while still staying at 250K? Anyway, the guitar sounds great. Love the neck. Great sustain and a good guitar acoustically, too. The notes on the higher strings are nice and singing, and using EJs bounce picking method, I was able to approximate that amazing EJ lead tone. Blooming highs and all. Also, the trem is set flush to the body now. I'll look over some of the details of adjusting Strat trems (online and I have a book) and I can't wait to set it up for floating trem use. I want to learn songs like SRV's Lenny and it would be sweet.

Pics (it's a sunburst) and clips soon! I am now officially addicted to this gutiar!